Justin Trudeau’s Quebec lieutenant affirms that his troops welcome the idea of modifying the Canadian Constitution to mark the notwithstanding provision, as desired by former Minister of Justice David Lametti during his last day in Ottawa.
“There are many members of the caucus who share this point of view, like many Canadians,” said Pablo Rodriguez on Wednesday morning.
He was commenting on the words of the former Minister of Justice, David Lametti, who said in his farewell speech to Parliament the day before that a constitutional change is “necessary” to prevent the preventive use of the derogation provision. of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The former law professor at McGill University, excluded from the Trudeau cabinet this summer, had mentioned the constitutional question in a passage where he asked not to make Anglo-Quebecers scapegoats for the defense of French. The Quebec government precisely used the override provision to protect its Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (nicknamed “law 96”) from legal challenges.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also used this same provision twice, such as in 2022 to prevent sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms from blocking his law forcing Ontario teachers to return to work. province.
“It’s a debate that must take place: is it possible to use this clause at the beginning [du processus législatif] rather than at the end [après une décision du tribunal]as was planned by those who created it,” explained Pablo Rodriguez, also federal Minister of Transport.
He clarified that federal government ministers “do not pass [leurs] meetings on this. »
Several members of his caucus refused to comment on their former colleague David Lametti’s suggestion on Wednesday, referring the question to his replacement, current Justice Minister Arif Virani. His office instead referred the question to the Prime Minister’s Office, since it is a question about the Constitution.
More details will follow.